Detroit stories that should be movies

[rb336]

Detroit has such a long history for a US city. What bit of Detroit history do you think would make a good movie?

My choice: Pontiac's rebellion

Inspired by Gameguy's question

[Honky Tonk]

"Attack Of The City Council"

[warsaw7]

"Kwame Saved my City" - Kwame saves Detroit from a zombie takeover after water from the Detroit River is used for a fog machine at a rave, turning all partygoers into mindless zombies.

[Chicago48]

Detroit has such a long history for a US city. What bit of Detroit history do you think would make a good movie?

My choice: Pontiac's rebellion

Inspired by Gameguy's question

I would like for you all, next time you're at the Detroit Public Library. Go to the Burton Collection and read my family's story in a journal form. It's hard cover, the title is "The Family Journal, The McLinns, the McLains and the Wrights". You may also want to look up documents donated pertaining to Detroit's black bottom neighborhood and it's entertainers. Ask for "McLinn" collection

One last thing. When I made those donations, the librarian entered the donations into a paper ledger [[pen and paper) and I was shocked. They don't have an electronic entry. It's all on paper.
This is a shame in this day and age that the library doesn't have the resources/funds to bring their entry of books and collections into the 21st century.
I suggested to a Freep writer that a kickstarter fund be started and sent the suggestion to the Directors....haven't heard back from them.

[Wesley Mouch]

...One last thing. When I made those donations, the librarian entered the donations into a paper ledger [[pen and paper) and I was shocked. They don't have an electronic entry. It's all on paper.
This is a shame in this day and age that the library doesn't have the resources/funds to bring their entry of books and collections into the 21st century....

Solid record keeping doesn't have to be computerized. There's nothing like paper for documentation. Any doubt about your donation, go get the book. I'm not arguing against progress, but I'm glad to hear that they keep good records.

[mkhopper]

"Attack of the 50 Foot Pile of Debt"

"Blight Club"

"Dirty Kwame"

[Detroitnerd]

I wish they'd make a good movie about the Purples. Base it off "The Purples" by W.K. Berger or "Whiskey River" by Loren Estleman. I'd watch that.

Alternatively, I've long been fascinated by the story of Henderson "Ben" Turpin, D.P.D.

[rb336]

I wish they'd make a good movie about the Purples. Base it off "The Purples" by W.K. Berger or "Whiskey River" by Loren Estleman. I'd watch that.

Alternatively, I've long been fascinated by the story of Henderson "Ben" Turpin, D.P.D.

couldn't help it

[maverick1]

I wish they'd make a good movie about the Purples. Base it off "The Purples" by W.K. Berger or "Whiskey River" by Loren Estleman. I'd watch that.

Alternatively, I've long been fascinated by the story of Henderson "Ben" Turpin, D.P.D.

I don't understand how the Purple Gang and Detroit always gets ignored in prohibition discussions or old gangster movies. I'm a huge fan of Boardwalk Empire and Detroit has been mentioned once in all of its seasons. If I remember correctly most of the liquor that came in the country came through Detroit.

[Lily]

I don't understand how the Purple Gang and Detroit always gets ignored in prohibition discussions or old gangster movies. I'm a huge fan of Boardwalk Empire and Detroit has been mentioned once in all of its seasons. If I remember correctly most of the liquor that came in the country came through Detroit.

And just to throw something else in that mix, my uncle was in the Fbi during the days of prohibition and was murdered in Detroit. I heard that story a million times as a child.

[marshamusic]

I wish they'd make a good movie about the Purples. Base it off "The Purples" by W.K. Berger or "Whiskey River" by Loren Estleman. I'd watch that.

Alternatively, I've long been fascinated by the story of Henderson "Ben" Turpin, D.P.D.

Yes, Ben Turpin was a legendary cop.

[Neilr]

...
Alternatively, I've long been fascinated by the story of Henderson "Ben" Turpin, D.P.D.

From the Detroit Free Press, December 1980:

[ddaydetroit]

I would love to see a movie not just a documentary about Sixto Rodriquez

[Detroitnerd]

Thanks for that article, Marsha! Great stuff. Another thing about Turpin was that he was an absolute baseball nut. I imagine any fast-talking person would try to get an angry Turpin onto the subject of baseball, or give up some tickets, to avoid a beating.

[Danny]

I want to make a movie about Gilda Radner.

[marshamusic]

Thanks for that article, Marsha! Great stuff. Another thing about Turpin was that he was an absolute baseball nut. I imagine any fast-talking person would try to get an angry Turpin onto the subject of baseball, or give up some tickets, to avoid a beating.

Detroitnerd, that wasn't me who posted that article, that was Neilr, I think. But as I said, he was legendary to many Detroit residents. I didn't know he was a baseball nut too.

My movie list would be:

A movie about Cadillac's arrival on the Detroit River - and the native American response, and the settling of this land.

A movie involving Fort Wayne

A movie about Underground Railroad

A movie about the racetrack times on the eastside of Detroit, precusor to Henry Ford's auto company.

A movie about the late Claude Harvard, African American inventor who worked with Henry Ford and made many automotive inventions, but was not properly credited due to prejudice. He was a fascinating man, and my neighbor when growing up in Highland Park.

A movie about the Dr. Ossian Sweet Case [[already mentioned); whites mobbed the home where a black doctor and his wife were moving into the block on the near East Side; one of his party inside the house who was defending the home shot one of the men in the mob outside and killed him.

The insuing trials were a sensation, and Clarence Darrow was the defense attorney. Frank Murphy [[as in the downtown criminal court, Frank Murphy Hall of Justice, later named after him) was the presiding judge in the case, and an all white, male jury acquitted the black defendents, though they had difficult lives afterwards. Base the movie on the stunning book by Kevin Boyle, called Arc of Justice.


A move about Dr. Melvin Hollowell, who faced profound descrimination as a black surgeon in Detroit, who was not allowed to practise medicine on white patients. He was instrumental in forming and practicing in the black hospitals of the time. A cinematic story of those hospitals and medical professionals in Detroit's segregated medical system is well deserved.

A movie about the visit of Bobby Kennedy to Detroit, when he drove down 12th street in a calvalcade and learned about the city.

A movie about the "Kerceval Incident" a precusor to the '67 Riots.

A movie about the founding of Conant Gardens, and the role of the abolitionist Shubael Conant who refused to have "restrictive covenants" on homes built on his property, which created the first community of black home building and ownership in Detroit.

A movie about the Irish woman in Corktown [[can't remember her name) who successfully fought to stop the razing of a significant segment of that community, that remains today, unlike what happened with Black Bottom.

A movie about the life of Coleman Young.

A movie about the life of General Baker, radical labor leader of DRUM [[not counting the movie already made, Finally Got the News).

A movie about the life of Ken Cockrel [[Sr.).

A movie about the still beautiful homes and blocks of Detroit.

A movie about Paradise Valley/Sugar Hill and all of the A list black artists who came to play and stay there.

A movie about Miller High School on the Near East Side, and the amazing talent that came from that institution.

A movie about the "Downtown Synagogue" on Griswold. Much interesting history there.

A movie about Soupie Sales. Period.

A movie about Maxine Powell, and her "charm school" for Motown acts.

A movie about the various ethnic minorities [[Greeks, Germans, Jews, Irish, Middle Easterners, etc. and their lives in Detroit.

A movie made from the book "The Warmth of Other Suns" by Isabel Wilkerson, about the Great Migration of blacks from the South to the North [[I believe, the greatest migration in history, someone correct me if I'm wrong).

A movie about the XGames/Assembly guys and their milieu here in Detroit.

A movie about Gilda Radner [[was there one)

A movie about Mitch Ryder.

A movie about Sonny Elliot, a very interesting guy. I used to talk to him when he lived in Lafayette Park, about his upbringing on and love for Hastings St. and the blues/jazz scene.

A movie about Mies van der Rohe and Lafayette Park.

A movie about the Olympia Theatre and it's many important acts down through the years.

A movie about the 1943 Riots in Detroit.

The story of my own father, Joe Von Battle, and his Hastings Street and 12th Street record shops; from the 1943 Riots to the 1967 Riots - my current project, for which my film partner and I were finalists in the recent Knights Challenge [[didn't get it, but continue to seek funding). We will begin shooting next year.

Ok, that's off the top of my head at the moment. Of course they don't all have to be full-length feature films, even short docs would be nice; but there are a lot of great, compelling stories in this city.

[coracle]

What about "Island Leasing for Dummies" scripted by the Detroit City Council?

[brizee]

A documentary on the halfass abusive police in this town.

From the Big Four to STRESS to Gang/Game Squad.

Just a 70 year expose on the long tradition of hassling people.

[EastsideAl]

I've always thought that the sort of short but epic historic arc of Jerry Cavanagh and his administration would make an interesting movie, or at least a very good non-fiction book.

[Wingnatic]

Plus according to a Detroit News article [[archive) rumor has it that the Purple Gang was responsible for the St.Valentines Day massacre as a warning to Al Capone who wanted a piece of their pie here in Detroit . Maybe we should email HBO the story so they can write it in the script lol

[Downriviera]

Ray1936, The Motorcycle Years

[DetroitPlanner]

Shaggy2Dope and Violent J's Adventures at Christo Rey High

[Detroit_uke]

How about some of these:
http://vimeo.com/18484174

[Baselinepunk]

"I don't understand how the Purple Gang and Detroit always gets ignored in prohibition discussions or old gangster movies."

My understanding is that the Purple Gang, and the legacy, is not very welcomed amongst the Jewish community for a ton of reasons.

[jackie5275]

I think the start of the labor movement with emphasis on Walter Reuther [[Jimmy Hoffa's already been done) would be good, especially with the opposition from Henry Ford leading up the the action climax of the Battle of the Overpass.